Digital-audio-signal recording apparatus

ABSTRACT

Audio data are read out, via an ATAPI interface, from an audio CD set in a CD drive. Thus, even where an inexpensive low-speed CPU is used, high-speed copying can be performed. When audio data stored on a hard disk are to be reproduced, and if copying authorization/inhibiting information indicates that coping of the audio data should be inhibited, the audio data are output, via a digital audio interface, with a copying-inhibiting subcode imparted to the data. Further, when the audio data stored on the hard disk are written to a CDR media set in the CD drive, the audio data on the hard disk are erased in correspondence with the writing of the digital audio data to the CDR media. With such a copying restricting feature, it is possible to provide a digital-audio-signal recording apparatus that can be properly used as consumer equipment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to digital-audio-signal recordingapparatus for recording or copying audio data of a CD onto a hard disk.

[0002] There are known apparatus which copy audio data of a CD to a harddisk and then write the thus-copied audio data from the hard disk to aCD-R disk to create a fresh CD containing the audio data. Some of theapparatus are in actual commercial use today as dedicated equipment, andfunctions similar to those of such apparatus can also be implementedusing a combination of a personal computer and software.

[0003] However, it has not been easy for ordinary audiophiles to usepersonal computers for such purposes because the personal computersrequire troublesome manipulations. The commercial-use dedicatedequipment, on the other hand, are relatively easy to manipulate, butcould not be properly used as consumer equipment because theyundesirably enable digital copying of audio data in a chain-like orconcatenated fashion.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the presentinvention to provide an improved digital-audio-signal recordingapparatus which can be properly used as consumer equipment.

[0005] In order to accomplish the above-mentioned, the present inventionprovides a digital-audio-signal recording apparatus which comprises: adisk drive that reads out data stored on a disk-shaped storage medium; ahard disk drive that stores digital audio data, read out from thedisk-shaped storage medium, on a hard disk installed therein; aninterface control section that writes, on the hard disk, the digitalaudio data read out from the disk-shaped storage medium only whencopying authorization/inhibition information, also read out from thedisk-shaped storage medium, indicates that copying of the digital audiodata is permitted or authorized.

[0006] The digital-audio-signal recording apparatus of the presentinvention examines the copying authorization/inhibition information ofthe digital audio data read out from the disk-shaped storage medium, andif the copying authorization/inhibition information indicates thatcopying of the digital audio data is not authorized, i.e. should beinhibited, the recording apparatus does not write the digital audio dataon the internal hard disk. Such arrangements can effectively inhibit achain (concatenation) of digital copying (chain-like digital copying),and thus allow a recording apparatus, such a hard disk recorder, to beproperly used as consumer equipment.

[0007] The digital-audio-signal recording apparatus of the presentinvention may include a bus interface so that an operation for writing,on the hard disk, the digital audio data read out from the disk-shapedstorage medium and an operation for extracting the copyingauthorization/inhibition information can be performed via the businterface. In the digital-audio-signal recording apparatus of thepresent invention, the hard disk drive may store audio data of trackscorresponding to a plurality of the disk-shaped storage media, so thatthe interface control section reproductively outputs the digital audiodata of the tracks from the hard disk. The digital-audio-signalrecording apparatus may further comprise a music-piece-selection controlsection that selects a desired track from among the tracks correspondingto the plurality of the disk-shaped storage media and designates theselected desired track as a track to be reproduced via the interfacecontrol section. Further, in the digital-audio-signal recordingapparatus of the invention, the music-piece-selection control sectionmay include a section that stores, as an album, a listing of tracksselected from among the tracks corresponding to the plurality of thedisk-shaped storage media.

[0008] According to another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a digital-audio-signal recording apparatus which comprises: ahard disk drive that has a hard disk storing digital audio data; a writesection that writes digital audio data on a disk-shaped storage medium;an interface control section that causes the write section to write thedigital audio data, stored on the hard disk, to the disk-shaped storagemedium and also erases the digital audio data from the hard disk incorrespondence with the audio data writing to the disk-shaped storagemedium.

[0009] When the digital audio data stored on the hard disk have beenwritten to the disk-shaped storage medium, which is another storagemeans in the digital-audio-signal recording apparatus, the recordingapparatus erases the digital audio data from the hard disk incorrespondence with the audio data writing to the disk shaped storagemedium. Thus, even where the digital audio data on the hard disk are acopy of audio data from another source, the audio data writing to thedisk-shaped storage medium never constitutes chain-like digital copyingbut just a so-called “transfer of data” from the hard disk to thedisk-shaped storage medium. Accordingly, the inventive arrangementsallow a recording apparatus, such a hard disk recorder, to be properlyused as consumer equipment.

[0010] According to still another aspect of the present invention, thereis provided a digital-audio-signal recording apparatus which comprises:a hard disk drive that has a hard disk storing digital audio data andsubcode information; a write section that writes data on a disk-shapedstorage medium; an interface control section that reads out the digitalaudio data and subcode information from the hard disk and edits theread-out digital audio data and subcode information into a CD-DA format,so as to supply the edited digital audio data and subcode information tothe write section. In this digital-audio-signal recording apparatus, thedigital audio data and subcode information, stored as subcodes on anaudio CD, are separately stored in advance on the hard disk, and whenthe digital audio data and subcode information are to be written to thedisk-shaped storage medium, the digital audio data and subcodeinformation are first edited into the CD-DA format and then supplied tothe disk-shaped storage medium. Such arrangements permit copying orcreation of a music CD containing textual information and the like.

[0011] With the above-mentioned arrangement that the operation forwriting, on the hard disk, the digital audio data read out from thedisk-shaped storage medium and the operation for extracting the copyingauthorization/inhibition information are performed via the bus interfacewithout intervention of a CPU, the present invention can significantlylessen the loads on the CPU, so that even where an inexpensive low-speedCPU is used, the present invention permits efficient high-speed copying.As a consequence, the present invention can provide inexpensiveconsumer-oriented recording equipment. Further, with the hard diskcapable of storing tracks (music pieces) corresponding to a plurality ofaudio CDs, the present invention allows any desired ones of the tracksto be freely combined and reproduced. As a result, thedigital-audio-signal recording apparatus of the present invention canoperate as an extremely-high-speed CD changer which requires little timefor CD replacement.

[0012] It should be appreciated that the disk-shaped storage medium usedin the present invention may be any one of various storage disks, suchas a CD, DVD and MD.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] For better understanding of the object and other features of thepresent invention, its preferred embodiments will be describedhereinbelow in greater detail with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

[0014]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an exemplary general setup of adigital-audio-signal recording apparatus in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

[0015]FIG. 2 is a front view of an operation panel of thedigital-audio-signal recording apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

[0016]FIG. 3 is a diagram showing general construction of a frame basedon the CD-DA standard;

[0017]FIG. 4 A is a diagram explanatory of a file management schemeemployed in the digital-audio-signal recording apparatus, and FIG. 4B isa diagram showing a file management information table for managingindividual audio data files (tracks) stored under a disk directory;

[0018]FIG. 5 is a diagram explanatory of details of the file managementinformation table and a manner in which the table is rewritten;

[0019]FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing an exemplary operational sequenceof an extraction mode process performed in the digital-audio-signalrecording apparatus;

[0020]FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing an exemplary operational sequenceof a reproduction mode process performed in the digital-audio-signalrecording apparatus;

[0021]FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing an exemplary sequence of operationsperformed by a controller in the reproduction mode;

[0022]FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing an exemplary operational sequenceof a process performed in the digital-audio-signal recording apparatusfor creating an album; and

[0023]FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing an exemplary operational sequenceof a write mode process performed in the digital-audio-signal recordingapparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0024] The following will describe a digital-audio-signal recordingapparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, butit should be appreciated that the present invention is not limited tothe described embodiment and various modifications of the invention arepossible without departing from the basic principles. The scope of thepresent invention is therefore to be determined solely by the appendedclaims.

[0025]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an exemplary general setup ofthe digital-audio-signal recording apparatus of the present invention,in which a controller 2 includes an ATAPI (acronym for At bus AttachmentPacket Interface) interface 20, a subcode detection section 21, adigital audio interface 22, and an analog audio interface 23. To thecontroller 2 (ATAPI interface 20) are connected, via an ATAPI bus 11, aCD drive 4 and a hard disk drive (hereinafter simply referred to as a“hard disk”) 5. Further, a FIFO memory 3 and a CPU 1 are connected tothe controller 2 (ATAPI interface 20) via a memory bus 12 and a CPU bus10, respectively. ROM 6 and a RAM 7, in addition to the controller 2,are connected to the CPU bus 10, and a user interface 8 is connected tothe CPU 1.

[0026] The digital audio interface 22 of the controller 2 has inputterminals for optical fibers and coaxial cable and output terminals foroptical fibers and coaxial cable. The analog audio interface 23 has anA/D converter (ADC) 25 for converting each input analog signal intodigital representation, and a D/A converter (DAC) 24 for converting eachdigital data to be output into analog representation. The subcodedetection section 21 separates or extracts subcode information from dataof the CD-DA (Compact Disk-Digital Audio) standard read out from a CD(hereinafter referred to as an “audio CD”) that is a disk-shaped storagemedium, and decodes the thus-extracted subcode information so as to reada track number, copying authorization/inhibition information, etc. Thesubcode detection section 21 includes a buffer for temporarily storingthe subcode information and transfers the subcode information from thebuffer to the hard disk 5 and CPU 1.

[0027] The CPU 1, which controls all operations in the recordingapparatus, gives the controller 2 instructions as to which predetermineddata are to be read from and which predetermined data are to be outputto. Also, the CPU 1 manages files stored on the hard disk 5. The filemanagement is performed by the CPU 1 on the basis of a file managementinformation table (see FIG. 5) stored on the same hard disk 5.

[0028] The user interface 8 includes a group of operators (operatingmembers) and a display section provided on an operation panel shown inFIG. 2. The group of operators includes switches, such as a play buttonand stop button similar to those of a conventional CD player, amulti-functional jog dial operable for selecting a desired disk andtrack, and so on. The display section visually displays a selected orcurrently-reproduced track number and the like. In the embodimentdescribed here, the tracks and music pieces correspond to each other ina one-to-one relation and thus the terms “track” and “music piece” areused interchangeably.

[0029] The CD drive 4 is a so-called “CD-RW” drive that can not onlyread audio data from an audio CD set therein but also write desiredaudio data onto a write-once CD-R disk or rewritable CD-RW disk.Hereinafter, such CD-R and CD-RW disks will be generically called CDRdisks for convenience of description. The hard disk 5 used here has astorage capacity of about 20 GB and is capable of cumulatively storingdata of 30-40 audio CDs; however, the storage capacity of the hard disk5 is not necessarily so limited.

[0030] Now, with reference to FIG. 3, a description will be made aboutthe CD-DA (Compact Disk-Digital Audio) standard that concerns a storageformat of the audio CD. According to the CD-DA standard, audio signalsare converted into digital data by a two-channel 16-bit quantizationscheme at a sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz, and the resulting sampledata are formed into frames with every six samples imparted with CIRC(Cross-Interleaved Reed-Solomon Code) parity. Namely, 32 symbols withCIRC parity added thereto form one frame, which correspond to sixsamples. Therefore, the repetition cycle of the frame is 7.35 kHz(sampling frequency 44.1 kHz÷6=7.35 kHz). Each frame is also impartedwith a 24-bit synchronization signal, 1-byte subcode information, etc.Thus, each frame is composed of 588 bits in total. The audio datarecorded on an audio CD are the results of such frame data having beenCIRC-encoded and then EFM-modulated.

[0031] The above-mentioned subcode information is additional informationintended for efficient music reproduction from the audio CD, and itincludes not only data indicative of a unique number, index, playingtime etc. of the music piece in question but also textual, graphicaldata, etc. Data of one byte can be included in each frame (7.35 kHz);however, because a variety of pieces of information are inserted asnoted above, a subcode frame is formed across 98 frames so that oneindependent unit of subcode information is composed of by 98 bytes.These 98 frames are called a “sector”. Therefore, the repetition cycleof the sector (subcode frame) is 7.35 kHz/98 (=75 Hz). Individual bitsadded as the one-byte subcode information to the individual framesamount to 98 bits in each sector, and are called a P channel, Q channel,R channel, S channel, T channel, U channel, V channel and W channel.Information of different contents is written in each of these channels.In the Q channel, there are written the total number of the tracks(i.e., music pieces), track numbers (music piece numbers), timeinformation, copyright control signal, etc.

[0032] The operations for reading out and demodulating data from theaudio CD, having the data stored in the above-described format, areperformed by the CD drive 4, which transmits the demodulated data to thecontroller 2 via the ATAPI bus. The controller 2 extracts the subcodesignal of every frame from the data read out from the CD drive 4 andtransmitted via the ATAPI bus and creates subcode information from thethus-extracted subcode signals. When data are to be copied ortransferred from the hard disk 5 to the CD drive 4, the controller 2also performs an operation for outputting the stored audio data andsubcode information to the CD drive 4. For example, the controller 2comprises a dedicated LSI.

[0033] More specifically, the controller 2 reads out data from an audioCD set in the CD drive 4, writes data onto a CDR set in the thecontroller 2 carries out an extraction mode process, reproduction modeprocess and write mode process, as will be extracting the audio datafrom the audio CD set in the CD drive 4 and storing the extracted audiodata on the hard disk 5. The reproduction mode process is a process forreading out audio data stored on the audio CD set in the CD drive 4 oron the hard disk 5 and then outputting the thus read-out audio data viathe digital interface 22 or analog audio interface 23. Further, thewrite mode process is a process for writing or copying audio data,stored on the hard disk 5, to the CDR disk set in the CD drive 4 andalso erasing the original data on the hard disk 5 in corresponding withthe data writing to the CDR disk.

[0034] In each of the extraction mode process, reproduction mode processand write mode process, the FIFO memory 3 is used as a buffer forallowing the data processing to be performed smoothly in the recordingapparatus. The FIFO memory may comprise either a dedicated FIFO memorydevice or a conventional RAM. In the latter case, a FIFO area isallocated in the RAM, and write and readout addresses may be additivelystored in the leading address of the FIFO area.

[0035] The digital-audio-signal recording apparatus of the presentinvention is designed for consumer use, and thus has a copyingrestricting function based on the principles of the SCMS (Serial CopyManagement System) that inhibits unlimited copying of digital audiodata. The SCMS operates as follows in each of the extraction modeprocess, reproduction mode process and write mode process.

[0036] In the extraction mode, the process is performed for digitallycopying audio data, read out from the audio CD, onto the hard disk 5.When a copying inhibiting code is written in the subcode informationhaving been decoded after extraction from the readout audio data (framedata), copying of the audio data (track) is inhibited in the extractionmode. According to the SCMS, a copying inhibiting code is written intothe subcode information of the audio data digitally copied from theoriginal CD, so as to prevent re-copying (second-generation copying) ofthe audio data. Even when the subcode information of the read-out audiodata indicates “copying permitted”, not only the audio data are writtento the hard disk 5 but also a copying inhibiting code is written intofile management information of the audio data. This is because a re-copy(second-generation copy) of the audio data would be produced if thecopying of the audio data is permitted. Therefore, the audio data storedon the hard disk 5 are allowed to be written (copied or moved) toanother storage medium, such as a CDR disk, only on condition that theaudio data are erased from the hard disk 5 in correspondence with theaudio data writing to the other storage medium.

[0037] In the reproduction mode, the process is performed for readingout audio data stored on the audio CD or hard disk 5 (i.e., audio datacopied from the original audio CD) and then outputting the thus read-outaudio data via the audio interface. When a copying inhibiting code iswritten in the subcode information having been decoded after extractionfrom the read-out audio data, the SCMS outputs the audio data via theanalog audio interface 23, and also outputs, via the digital audiointerface 22, the audio data with a copying inhibiting subcode impartedthereto, so as to inhibit any external equipment from digital storage ofthe audio data. In the event that the subcode information of theread-out audio data indicates “copying permitted”, the SCMS outputs theaudio data via the analog audio interface 23, and also outputs the audiodata, via the digital audio interface 22, with a copying permittingsubcode imparted thereto.

[0038] In the write mode, the process is performed for writing audiodata stored on the hard disk 5 to the CDR disk set in the CD drive 4.When the file management information of the audio data to be writtenindicates “copying inhibited”, the SCMS writes the data onto the CDRdisk and also erases the audio data from the hard disk 5 incorrespondence with the audio data writing to the CDR disk, in a mannerdescribed later. Further, when audio data input from the audio CD set inthe CD drive 4 or input via the digital audio interface 22 have beenstored, the file management information of such audio data is set toindicate “copying inhibited”. Furthermore, when audio data input via theanalog audio interface 23 have been stored, the file managementinformation of such audio data is set to indicate that onlyfirst-generation copying is permitted. Namely, whereas production of afirst-generation copy from the original is permitted, production of asecond-generation copy, which a re-copy from the first-generation copy,is not permitted. The foregoing are operations based on the SCMSstandard.

[0039] When audio data are read out from the audio CD, the subcodedetection section 21 extracts the subcodes from the read-out data,decodes each extracted subcode, and passes the decoded subcode to theCPU 1. The CPU 1 sends, back to the controller 2, a signalauthorizing/inhibiting the data write and output operations, on thebasis of copying authorization/inhibition information included in thesubcode. Further, at the time of the audio data reproduction (output),the CPU 1 displays, on the display section, the track number and timeinformation included in the subcode information.

[0040]FIG. 4A is a diagram explanatory of a file management schemeemployed in the digital-audio-signal recording apparatus of the presentinvention. When audio data are to be copied from the audio CD in theextraction mode, a disk directory is created for the audio CD inquestion; namely, one disk directory is created for each audio CD (Disc1, 2, 3, . . . ). Then, audio data files (Track 1, 2, 3, . . . )extracted from the audio CD are created under the disk directory.Desired track (music piece) can be designated (selected) by the userdesignating a combination of the disk number and track number.

[0041] The user can also create an album for reproducing (or writing,onto a CDR,) a freely selected combination of the audio data filesstored under the disk directory. Although FIG. 4A shows each album ashaving a directory structure similarly to the disks, the album is, inpractice, a listing of data specifying a plurality of the audio files(tracks) stored under the disk directory.

[0042] When a desired disk or album is designated in the normalreproduction mode, the reproduction mode process sequentially reproducesthe tracks contained in the disk or album (i.e., the tracks stored underthe disk directory or specified by the listing of the album), afterwhich the process is brought to en end. Only one music piece can bereproduced, or a plurality of disks or albums can be successivelyreproduced in this reproduction mode, as desired by the user.

[0043]FIG. 4B is a diagram showing a file management information tablefor managing the individual audio data files (tracks) stored under thedisk directory. In the figure, there is shown only a recordcorresponding to one audio data file. The file management informationtable stores, for each of the audio data files, information identifyingthe file (such as the disk number Dm and track number Tn of the file),file validity information, erasure state flag, copyingauthorization/inhibition information, and subcode information. The filevalidity information is information that determines presence/absence ofthe file (Dm and Tn); namely, if the file validity information indicates“non-valid”, the file in question is disconnected to assume an erasedstate so that readout of the file is disabled. In other words, the filevalidity information is information of a control program level like FAT(File Allocation Table) information of a DOS (Disk Operating System).The erasure state flag is a flag used, in an audio data transfer (move)from the hard disk 5 to the CDR disk, in such a manner that only datareadout for a currently-performed data transfer is allowed and the fileis treated as “erased” in response to any other accesses. The copyingauthorization/inhibition information is a code indicating whether or notthe digital copying of the audio data is permitted. The subcodeinformation is generally the same as the one contained in the audio CDand includes data indicative of the tile and the like of the music piecein question.

[0044]FIG. 5 is a diagram explanatory of a series of steps for managingthe file management information when an audio data file (track)inhibited from being copied is to be transferred from a transferred-fromstorage medium (source) to a transferred-to storage medium(destination). Before initiation of the transfer process, the filevalidity information indicates “valid” and the erasure state flag is inreset condition indicating that there are data in the transferred-fromstorage medium. Once the transfer process is started, the erasure stateflag is set to indicate an erased state, so that the actual data portion(audio data) and subcode information are transferred and written to thepredetermined destination (e.g., CDR disk). Then, when the writing ofthe audio data and subcode information has been completed properly, thefile management information (file validity information) of thepredetermined destination is set to indicate “valid”.

[0045] After that, the file validity information is set to indicate“non-valid”, and the audio data file is erased from the hard disk 5.

[0046] By keeping the erasure state flag in the rest condition prior tothe transfer process and then setting the file validity information toindicate “non-valid” after the transfer process as noted above, it ispossible to disable any access to the actual data portion, other thanthe access for the data transfer purpose, without placing the actualdata portion in the erased state. Thus, even when an unexpectedaccident, such as power failure or shutdown, has occurred the instantthe data transfer to the destination is completed, it is possible toreliably avoid a situation against the SCMS standard that the sameactual data portion is left in both the destination storage medium andthe source storage medium (hard disk 5).

[0047] FIGS. 6-10 are flow charts showing behavior of thedigital-audio-signal recording apparatus in accordance with theembodiment of the present invention. Specifically, FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an exemplary operational sequence of the extraction modeprocess for extracting audio data from an audio CD set in the CD drive 4and storing the extracted audio data on the hard disk 5. Morespecifically, the flow chart of FIG. 6 shows behavior of the CPU 1 andcontroller 2. When an audio CD is set by the user in the CD drive 4 atstep s1, a new disk directory for the thus-set audio CD is generated atstep s2, and track numbers are sequentially generated, at step s3,starting with track number 1. Then, a management information recordcorresponding to the tracks is generated on the file managementinformation table at step s4. These steps s1-s4 are carried out by theCPU 1. Then, data are read out from the audio CD at step s5, and thesubcodes are separated from the read-out data and buffered at step s6.These steps s5 and s6 are carried out by the controller 2.

[0048] Once the leading audio data (frame data) of the track have beenread out, a process shown in section (B) of FIG. 6 is carried out.Namely, the controller 2 checks the subcode information separated fromthe frame data at step s11 and determines whether copying of the data ispermitted or not. If copying of the data is permitted as determined atstep s12, the process of section (B) is continued, but if copying of thedata is inhibited, further processing on the track is skipped at steps13, and control goes to step s10 as denoted at {circle over (1)}.

[0049] When the audio data extraction is to be executed, the main bodyof the audio data (actual data portion) is written to the hard disk 5 byway of the FIFO memory 3, at step s7. The audio data become an audiofile of the track number generated at step s3 above. Then, necessarysubcode information is stored in the file management information tableat step s8. Then, the operations at and after step s5 are repeated untilprocessing on this track is completed. When the processing on the trackhas been completed and if there is a next track to be processes on theaudio CD, a track number representing the next track is generated underthe disk directory at step s3, and the operations after step s3 arerepeated for the next track. Once the above-described processing hasbeen completed for all the tracks on the audio CD (step s9), theextraction mode process is brought to an end.

[0050]FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing an exemplary sequence of operationsperformed by the CPU 1 in the reproduction mode for reproducing audiodata stored on the hard disk 5. Once the reproduction mode has been set,track 1 of disk 1 is first set as a default selected music piece at steps20. Then, the following operations are carried out in response touser's playing operation, stopping operation and track selectingoperation of steps s21-s24.

[0051] Namely, when the playing operation is performed, such as by theuser activating the play button, as determined at step s21, audio datareproduction of a currently-set track is initiated at step s25. When thestopping operation is performed, such as by the user activating the stopbutton, as determined at step s22, audio data reproduction beingexecuted is terminated at step s26.

[0052] Further, when a particular disk or album is selected bymanipulation, by the user, of the multi-functional jog dial asdetermined at step s23, the number of the selected disk or album is setas a selected disk at step s27, and track 1 of the disk or album is setas a default selected music piece at step s28. If any other track isbeing currently reproduced as determined at step s29, thecurrently-reproduced track is canceled so as to reproduce the selectedtrack at step s30.

[0053] Further, when a particular track is selected by manipulation, bythe user, of the multi-functional jog dial as determined at step s24,the number of the selected track is set as a default selected musicpiece at step s31. If any other track is being currently reproduced asdetermined at step s29, the currently-reproduced track is canceled so asto reproduce the selected track at step s30.

[0054]FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing an exemplary sequence of operationsperformed by the controller 2 in the reproduction mode. Once audio datareproduction is instructed by the CPU 1, the controller 2 reads outaudio data of a designated track from the hard disk 5 at step s40 andoutputs the read-out audio data to the audio interface at step s41. Thedata readout of this file is continued until the reproduction of thetrack is completed (step s42). Upon completion of the reproduction ofthe track, a next track to be processed is selected and the foregoingoperations are repeated for the next track. The reproduction modeprocess is brought to an end when it is determined at step s43 that thereproduction has been completed for all the tracks of the selected diskor album.

[0055] Namely, the normal reproduction mode process is performed on adisk-by-disk or album-by-album basis and then brought to an end afterthe last music piece (track) of the selected disk or album has beenreproduced. Other reproduction processes than the normal reproductionmode process are also possible, such as one for reproducing a pluralityof disks or albums in succession and one for reproducing only onedesignated music piece.

[0056] In section (B) of FIG. 8, there is shown a flow chart ofoperations, performed at the start of data readout of a given track, forcontrolling outputs to the audio interface. First, the file managementinformation corresponding to the given track is read out at step s45,and contents of the copying authorization/inhibition information areexamined at step s46. If the copying authorization/inhibitioninformation indicates that copying of the track is permitted orauthorized, the audio data are output to the digital audio interface 22with copying-permitted subcode information imparted to the audio data,and the audio data are also output to the analog audio interface 23(step s47). If, on the other hand, the copying authorization/inhibitioninformation indicates that copying of the track is inhibited, the audiodata are output to the digital audio interface 22 withcopying-inhibiting subcode information imparted to the audio data, andthe audio data are also output to the analog audio interface 23 (steps48). Such arrangements can reliably prevent digital output of any trackthat should be absolutely inhibited from being copied.

[0057]FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing an exemplary operational sequenceof a process for creating an album. As previously noted, the album is alisting of tracks that allows the user to reproduce a freely selectedcombination of various tracks as if the combination is stored on onedisk. Namely, once an album creation mode is set, a unique number of thealbum to be currently created is generated at step s51; if the album isthe first one to be created, album number 1 may be generated. Then, avalue “1” is set as variable i indicative of a track number in thealbum, at step s52. After that, the following operations are carried outin response to user's disk selecting operation, track selectingoperation, music-piece selecting operation and album-creation endingoperation. Namely, when a particular disk or album is selected bymanipulation, by the user, of the multi-functional jog dial asdetermined at step s53, a selected disk number is set at step s57, andtrack 1 of the disk is set as a default selected music piece at steps58. Further, when a particular track is selected by manipulation, bythe user, of the multi-functional jog dial as determined at step s54,the selected particular track of the currently-selected disk is set as aselected music piece at step s59.

[0058] Then, once music-piece selecting operation is performed, such asby activating the music-piece selecting button, as determined at steps55, the track currently selected as the selected music piece is storedas the variable i at step s61 (see FIG. 4). After that, a value “1” isadded to the variable i in preparation for selection of a next musicpiece, at step s62. Further, when album-creation ending operation isperformed by the user, the album creation process is brought to an end.

[0059] Although the album creation process has been described ascreating a new album, it is assumed here that contents of an alreadycreated album can also be modified by designation of the album numberand track number.

[0060]FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing an exemplary operational sequenceof the write mode process, which is a data transfer process for writingaudio data of a disk or album to a CDR disk set in the CD drive 4 and,after the writing to the CDR disk, erasing the corresponding data storedon the hard disk 5.

[0061] In the write mode, the user first designates the number of thedisk or album to be written onto the CDR disk, at step s70. Then, theleading track number of the disk or album is informed to the controller2 at step s71, and the erasure state flag in the file managementinformation table corresponding to the leading track is set to indicatean erased state at step s72. After that, the audio data and subcodeinformation are read out from the hard disk 5 at steps s73 and s74. Thethus read-out audio data and subcode information are edited or modulatedinto the CD writing format at step s75, and then written onto the CDRdisk at step s76. Note that the operations s73 and s74 are carried outby the controller 2 and the operations s75 and s76 are carried out bycooperation between the controller 2 and the CD drive 4. When thewriting is completed for the track as determined at step s77, the filevalidity information, contained in the file management informationcorresponding to the track on the hard disk 5, is set to indicate“non-valid” meaning that the data of the track on the hard disk 5 havebeen completely erased. Such arrangements can prevent further(second-generation) copying (i.e., re-copying) of the audio data copiedfrom the CD to the hard disk 5, to thereby eliminate a possibility ofunfair copying against the SCMS standard.

[0062] The foregoing operations are carried out in the increasing orderof track numbers on the selected disk or album. Once the writeoperations have been completed for all the tracks on the selected diskor album as determined at step s79, a predetermined finalizing operationis performed at step s80 for allowing the thus-written blank CD to beproperly reproduced as an audio CD.

[0063] Whereas the write mode process of FIG. 10 has been described aswriting audio data to a CDR disk set in the CD drive 4, the audio datamay be output via the digital audio interface 22.

[0064] In summary, the digital-audio-signal recording apparatus of thepresent invention is characterized by examining the copyingauthorization/inhibition information of digital audio data read out froma disk-shaped storage medium, and determining, on the basis of theexamined contents of the authorization/inhibition information, whetheror not to write the audio data to a storage section. Such arrangementscan effectively inhibit chain-like digital copying, and thus allow arecording apparatus, such a hard disk recorder, to be properly used asconsumer equipment.

[0065] When digital audio data stored on the hard disk have been writtento the disk-shaped storage medium, which is another storage means in thedigital-audio-signal recording apparatus, the recording apparatus erasesthe digital audio data from the hard disk in correspondence with theaudio data writing to the disk-shaped storage medium. Such arrangementstoo can effectively inhibit chain-like digital copying, and thus allow arecording apparatus, such a hard disk recorder, to be properly used asconsumer equipment.

[0066] Even where the hard disk has the digital audio data and subcodeinformation separately stored thereon, the present invention permitscopying or creation of an audio CD containing textual information andthe like.

[0067] Further, with the arrangement that the operation for writing, onthe hard disk, digital audio data read out from a medium readingsection, such as the CD drive and the operation for checking the subcodeinformation are performed primarily via the bus interface withoutintervention of the CPU, the present invention can significantly lessenthe loads on the CPU. Thus, even where an inexpensive low-speed CPU isused, the present invention permits efficient high-speed copying. As aconsequence, the present invention can provide inexpensiveconsumer-oriented recording equipment. Further, with the hard diskcapable of storing tracks (music pieces) corresponding to a plurality ofaudio CDs, the present invention allows any desired ones of the tracksto be freely combined and reproduced. As a result, thedigital-audio-signal recording apparatus of the present invention canoperate as an extremely-high-speed CD changer which requires little timefor CD replacement.

What is claimed is:
 1. A digital-audio-signal recording apparatuscomprising: a disk drive that reads out data stored on a disk-shapedstorage medium; a hard disk drive that stores digital audio data, readout from the disk-shaped storage medium, on a hard disk; an interfacecontrol section that writes, on the hard disk, the digital audio dataread out from the disk-shaped storage medium only when copyingauthorization/inhibition information read out from the disk-shapedstorage medium indicates that copying of the digital audio data ispermitted.
 2. A digital-audio-signal recording apparatus as claimed inclaim 1 wherein said interface control section includes a bus interface,and an operation for writing, on the hard disk, the digital audio dataread out from the disk-shaped storage medium and an operation forextracting the copying authorization/inhibition information areperformed via said bus interface.
 3. A digital-audio-signal recordingapparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said hard disk drive storesaudio data of tracks corresponding to a plurality of the disk-shapedstorage media, and said interface control section reproductively outputsthe digital audio data of the tracks from the hard disk, and whichfurther comprises a music-piece-selection control section that selects adesired track from among the tracks corresponding to the plurality ofthe disk-shaped storage media and designates the selected desired trackas a track to be reproduced via said interface control section.
 4. Adigital-audio-signal recording apparatus as claimed in claim 3 whereinsaid music-piece-selection control section includes a section thatstores, as an album, a listing of tracks selected from among the trackscorresponding to the plurality of the disk-shaped storage media.
 5. Adigital-audio-signal recording apparatus comprising: a hard disk drivethat has a hard disk storing digital audio data; a write section thatwrites digital audio data on a disk-shaped storage medium; an interfacecontrol section that causes said write section to write the digitalaudio data, stored on the hard disk, to the disk-shaped storage mediumand also erases said digital audio data stored on the hard disk incorrespondence with writing of the digital audio data to the disk-shapedstorage medium.
 6. A digital-audio-signal recording apparatuscomprising: a hard disk drive that has a hard disk storing digital audiodata and subcode information; a write section that writes data on adisk-shaped storage medium; an interface control section that reads outthe digital audio data and subcode information from the hard disk andedits the read-out digital audio data and subcode information into aCD-DA format, so as to supply the edited digital audio data and subcodeinformation to said write section.